Crime & Safety
Update: Racine Police Officer Suffers Minor Injuries After Crash with Semi
The Racine Police Department confirmed that an officer was taken to Wheaton Franciscan All Saint's with minor injuries after his squad car was clipped while traveling south on I-94.
**Updated 4 p.m.
Officer Tim Waystedt, an 18-veteran of the Racine Police Department, was taken to Wheaton Franciscan St. Mary's Tuesday after his squad car got wedged under one semi truck after he was clipped by a first semi truck.
According to Racine PD's Public Information Officer Sgt. Jessie Metoyer, Waystedt, 46, suffered minor injuries and by 4 p.m. was either released or getting ready to be released from the hospital.
Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Waystedt was driving southbound on I-94 near the 7-Mile Road exit when he was struck by a semi truck. Waystedt's car went into a spin and was wedged briefly under another semi before the car spun away and ended up in a ditch.
The accident is believed to have happened around 12:20 p.m.
Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"Officer Waystedt is a K-9 officer so he has a take-home car," Metoyer explained. "His canine partner, Marco, was not in the vehicle at the time."
Dash cam video is most likely not available since Waystedt was not on duty and would have had no reason to have his camera operating, she added.
A Wisconsin State Trooper confirmed neither semi remained at the scene and that only a brief color description was obtained by witnesses.
According to a press release from Wisconsin State Patrol, "The semi that caused the accident has a blue trailer, was last scene traveling southboud from the scene of the crash."
The trooper who answered the phone when we called described Waystedt's injuries to Patch.
"Officer Waystedt's air bag deployed so he did suffer some facial injuries and some back pain as well," he said. "Nothing life threatening and pretty minor considering."
Wisconsin State Patrol is handling the investigation and is asking for the public's help finding the drivers of the semi trucks.
If anyone has any information, they can leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers. Tips that lead to arrest can also lead to a reward of up to $1,000 for the tipster. Call 1-888-636-9330, email:http://racine.crimestoppersweb.com, or text message: RACS to 274637(CRIMES).
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
